


Sweet Tooth

by lilithenaltum



Series: The Valki Fics [3]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies), Thor: Ragnarok - Fandom
Genre: Based on a Tumblr Post, Brunnhilde loves mangos, Dinner parties with Loki, Everyone Survives Infinity War, F/F, Gen, Loki has a sweet tooth, Loki learns to cook, Minor Pepper Potts/Tony Stark
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-23
Updated: 2018-01-23
Packaged: 2019-03-08 16:32:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,806
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13462143
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lilithenaltum/pseuds/lilithenaltum
Summary: “The discovery of a new dish does more for the happiness of the human race than the discovery of a star.” - Jean Anthelme Brillat-SavarinPepper watches the Prince of Asgard discover his love both for cooking and for one sugarphobic Valkyrie.





	Sweet Tooth

**Author's Note:**

  * For [gaslightgallows (hearts_blood)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/hearts_blood/gifts), [zombiecheetah](https://archiveofourown.org/users/zombiecheetah/gifts).



> This was inspired in part by a tumblr post detailing that neither of the Odinsons probably would have learned to cook and another pertaining to how the Asgardians would react to food on Earth. Everyone pretty much agreed that Loki has a massive sweet tooth and so, this is the result of that thought.

It is during the first few weeks after the Odinson brothers settle in Tony Stark’s upstate New York estate that Thor and Loki realize they cannot cook.

 

There is only so much takeout they can stand to eat, and Stark keeps complaining about not only having to feed and shelter several thousand Aesir and Sakaarian refugees, but the brothers themselves. Pepper offers to take them grocery shopping and show them a few basics-Thor manages to learn to boil water for eggs and pasta, make his own tea, and cook ramen noodles. Heimdall frequents the lessons out of curiosity, as he’s a competent cook already, and Brunnhilde comes along for the laughs. Together they all watch the King struggle through more advanced dishes, like lasagna and chicken noodle soup, but Loki takes to cooking like a fish to water. Even Korg, whose tastes are rather exotic and unusual, find that the Prince can make a mean chicken tikka masala. And Bruce likes to drop by if only to snag some of Loki’s lemon and poppy seed muffins. His skills expand outside the realm that Pepper can handle and so she introduces him to YouTube and several reputable cooking shows.

 

Eventually, he wants to show off his skills by hosting a massive dinner party. Pepper has crates of food hauled in to the compound and Loki starts days ahead of time, making menus and going through seating arrangements for all five thousand some odd people who will be attending. He remembers that Steve has a peanut allergy; that Wanda doesn’t eat seafood; that T’Challa won’t touch pork; and that his own brother is lactose intolerant. Pepper (and Brunnhilde, even) are both incredibly impressed at the attention to detail and care he puts into planning this dinner, a sort of celebration for surviving something as traumatic as Thanos. And when Loki asks that they contact Quill, his hair up in a messy bun and spectacles on as he pours over stacks of hand written notes and recipe cards, Pepper obliges without any complaint. ( _Yes, they’re available to come. Sure, they’ll bring some of that good liquor from Xander. Can Peter wear a tux?)_

 

Perhaps cooking will keep him out of trouble. And trouble is the very last thing she, or anyone else, needs right now.

* * *

 

Funnily enough it is Brunnhilde, Hilde to Loki, who acts as his unofficial assistant. She’s got about as much cooking experience as needed to survive if she were left on her own, but she’s no master chef. Even so, she knows how to separate eggs like a professional and she’s a beast when it comes to peeling potatoes. She’s been working on her PTSD, too, and being in the kitchen with Loki, arguing over what side dishes go best with what entrée and what wines pair with which meats keep her occupied and out of her own mind. Neither one of them will readily admit it, but they genuinely enjoy being around each other, though they do fight like cats and dogs and though they hurl insults at each other like terms of endearment.

 

Thor insists, as he nibbles on a reject bacon wrapped asparagus, that they are terms of endearment. “My brother does not think we know his feelings for the Valkyrie,” he says with a sly grin. Pepper only pats the King on his arm and smiles. Perhaps the two of them don’t realize it, but everyone else can see it. Natasha has asked more than once when they’re going to get married. “I wanna make sure I get that woman a really good wedding present for taming Loki’s crazy ass,” she says.

 

Hours before the dinner, Loki recruits a one hundred and twenty person team of his own people (and Groot, who has been in the way since he arrived and really wants something useful to do-Hilde uses him as a dish and tray holder) to assist in finishing the meal, laying out the cutlery and table settings, and decorating the Stark’s giant back lawn. There are people scurrying here and there outside of Pepper’s kitchen and dining room, carrying buffet style pans of chicken breasts with apricot and onion sauce, delicate pastas, and roast vegetables; trays of tiny pot pies and frittatas; large pots of thick, rich chili and chilled bowls of white gazpacho. The kitchen smells absolutely amazing and Pepper is stunned at how delicious it all looks. She’s given a sample of Loki’s raspberry and mint cheesecakes and nearly moans at amazing it is.

 

Hilde, she notices, is also sampling some of the desserts, the last dishes to go out into the big tent, and she barely makes any comment on the cakes and pies that Loki presents. “Too sweet,” she grumbles, her mouth full of chocolate cake, but Pepper knows that Hilde simply does not have the sweet tooth that Loki does. Even still, the air is tense as she seemingly disapproves of every dessert she tries, include a slice of warm and gooey monkey bread with honey bourbon sauce. Pepper knows for a fact that it’s delicious; she’d specifically requested he make one for Tony’s birthday coming up. But Brunnhilde doesn’t seem impressed, though the sauce contains enough liquor to make a grown man tipsy.

 

“Norns, Lackey, did you forget to say when on the sugar?” She snorts and turns to wash the confection down with a large glass of water, followed by a shot of whiskey. Loki glares in her direction and then he smoothes his face into something resembling nonchalance when she faces him. “You simply have the tastes of a heathen,” he says, by way of defense, and although he tries to pass it off as though he cares not one iota for Hilde’s opinion, Pepper can tell that her distaste for the sweets is wearing on him. Sweets are Loki’s specialties and his absolute favorite things to make, and in this way, she understands he’s offering her a gift.

 

It’s a megalomaniac's way of saying he’s smitten.

 

Even still, she can’t help but feel sorry for Hilde, who frowns slightly at Loki’s droll tone. She’s trying her best to be cordial and kind, though she doesn’t really like sugar at all. In this roundabout backwards way, she too is trying to show him she cares. She’ll sample his sugary pastries just because he’s the one who made it. And though she might not like it (and won’t necessarily lie about what she thinks of them) she’s not trying to be cruel.

 

* * *

 

Sometime later, when she checks up on the two, she finds Loki alone, sitting at the bar with a cup of tea at his side and an iPad open to Food and Wine’s website. He’s mumbling under his breath and he looks both exhausted and frustrated no doubt due in part to Hilde’s apparent distaste for his desserts. He’s got the ears of a cat and he looks up through smudged spectacles when she enters the kitchen. “Virginia,” he greets, amiable as he can be when he’s as tired as he probably is and Pepper smiles brightly. “I told you to call me Pepper, Loki,” she says, teasing, but he doesn’t return her smile and she knows something is wrong. “What’s eating at you? You look like you’ve lost your best friend.”

 

When he looks back to her, she thinks for a second that perhaps he feels like he has.

 

“I’m trying to find a dessert.”

 

“You’ve got plenty of desserts.”

 

He hums in agreement but there’s a line between his brows, and he’s scrunching his face in concentration. He slides his finger up the screen of the iPad and shakes his head. “No, that won’t do,” he mutters, and sighs. “Something not too sweet, Vir-Pepper. She doesn’t really like sweet things. I _knew_ that,” he continues, and Pepper realizes exactly who he’s talking about and what he’s trying to do.

 

And then a light goes off in her head. Hilde hadn’t been too fond of sugary things but she had a definite appetite for mangoes, eating half a dozen by herself in one sitting so that Pepper has to keep them in stock via wholesale grocer. With that in mind, she asks if she can make a suggestion, and Loki obliges, the corners of his mouth turning up slowly when she fills him on exactly what Hilde’s tastes would be.

 

“You’ve been nothing but generous to me, Mrs. Stark,” he says softly, and he lifts her hand, kissing the back of it. He hops off the stool and heads directly for the pantry, digging around for the ingredients needed to make a last minute dessert, specifically for Brunnhilde. And Pepper leaves quietly, grinning when he begins to hum to himself. She’s got to get dressed and make sure Tony’s wearing the right cufflinks.

* * *

 

The dinner is a phenomenal success. All the Avengers and Asgardians and Sakaarians and the Guardians praise Loki’s cooking, his attention to detail, his generosity and skill. He’s beaming but there is nervousness behind his smile that only Pepper understands and she shifts in her seat a few chairs down from the chef, anxious to know how Hilde’s dessert came out. She gets her answer soon, after the cakes and pies and tortes are sliced and distributed. Loki stands up sometime after and walks to the table that held all the food, and carries a small foil covered baking dish before sitting it down right in front of Brunnhilde, who hadn’t touched any of the other desserts. She looks up at him confused, but at his nudging, peels back the foil and gasps.

 

“Are these mangoes, Lackey?” Pepper hears her ask, and Loki smiles brightly. “Mango mousse tart for the heathen,” he says affectionately and she laughs, taking the fork he offers, and digging in. For several long moments, the Valkyrie says nothing, only chews slowly and nods every so often. Loki seems to be holding his breath, but he finally sucks it in when she digs in for more, and then more, and more until she has polished off the entire tart by herself, little crumbs stuck to her glossy lips and a grin on her face. “I’m guessing you liked it?” Loki comments, and there’s still some trepidation in his voice, but she laughs and nods. “That’s more like it! You got another one?”

* * *

 

When the music swells and dancing starts, Pepper finds the two of them swaying in the corner, lost in their own little world. Hilde leans up on tip toes and kisses Loki’s cheek, to which his bright green eyes widen in shock and then close in bliss, and he leans his cheek on the crown of her head as she snuggles in to him.

 

Pepper makes a note to let Natasha know that she’ll probably want to start gift shopping soon.

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> The recipes for everything but the mango mousse tart can be found on Food and Wine's website; the tart is here: https://kirbiecravings.com/2014/07/mango-mousse-tart.html.
> 
> I'm on tumblr if you wanna come chat. <3 lilitenaltum


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